[ad_1]
BUFFALO — Brock Nelson will celebrate his 34th birthday on Wednesday, which means he’s experienced a lot in his life as a hockey player.
Nelson encountered a first Monday afternoon at KeyBank Center when he was cut on the left wrist by a wayward skate. It’s one of the scariest things that can happen in the sport. Luckily for Nelson, it went about as well as one of those situations can.
“When I felt it, it kind of felt like a stinger-type feeling in my hand. I knew I got hit by something, then I looked and I saw it was cut,” Nelson said after the Avalanche defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1. “I knew I was cut, so I just went off (the ice). I’ve never really had a cut like that before. When I saw the cut, I was almost waiting for more blood to come out. I think it was just clean and more superficial. Just a couple zips.”
Nelson went to defend ex-Avs defenseman Bo Byram along the boards near the Colorado bench early in the third period. Byram got the puck past him, but also fell awkwardly to the ice. His right leg elevated as the rest of his body tumbled, and caught Nelson just under his glove.
For all of the protection hockey players wear, there are a few places on the body that can get exposed in those types of situations. Nelson flung off his glove, looked at his hand/wrist, and immediately went to the Avs bench, down the tunnel and in search of a doctor.
“We dodged a bullet there,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “He got a laceration on his wrist, got some stitches, but as of now, everything looks intact. It was just the flesh, which is super lucky.”
Nelson said they tested his fingers, and everything checked out. He ended up missing less than eight minutes of game action, and returned to play three shifts in the second half of the third period.
Both Nelson and Bednar said they think he’s fine moving forward. The Avs have been relatively healthy to start this season, but losing Nelson for any amount of time would be a significant blow.
This is his first full season with the club, and Bednar clearly enjoys having him available to center the second line. Nelson, even with missing a few shifts against the Sabres, has played 82:30 in the first four games.
He’s been a fixture on the first power-play unit, is second to Parker Kelly among forwards in ice time on the penalty kill and has the most even-strength ice time among the guys up front who don’t play on the top line.
His line, along with Valeri Nichushkin and Gabe Landeskog, is off to a bit of a slow start offensively, with only two assists between the trio combined. But that trio has the potential to be one of the best second lines in the NHL.
“Second-line center, it is an important position,” Bednar said. “You need offense out of him. You need to be responsible defensively to check other teams’ top lines. They’ve been doing that a lot to try and free up Nate’s line a little bit. I think he’s the perfect 2C. You’ve got to have one. We’ve got through it for years, trying to find the right guy.
“We’re super happy with what he’s been able to do with us, and what I think he can continue to do with us.”
Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis.
[ad_2]
Corey Masisak
Source link